Automatic pie trimming and crimping machine.



No. 854,304. PATENTED MAY 21,1907.

c. OSKAMP. I

AUTOMATIC PIE TRIMMING AND CRIMPING MACHINE. I

APPLIOATIOKIILED JULY24.1905.

2 sans-$113M z.

777%)? eso es I nwenor CLEMENS OSKAMP, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC PIE TRIMMING A ND CRIMPING MACHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

Application fil d July 24,1905. Serial No. 270,991.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, CLEMENS OSKAMP, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic PieTrimming and Crimping Machines, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of my specification.

My invention relates to a machine for trimming and crimping pies.

. As is well known, in the operation of making pics, the lower and uppercrusts (or the lower alone, when only one crust is used), are maderoughly to fit the pie-plate. It is then usual to trim the edge of thesecrusts by hand in various ways. This process, however, is slow andtedious, and it is necessary in large baking establishments, to employthree orf'our operatives for this alone. .The result is notsatisfactory, for the reason that the dough is apt to be'crowded orbunched together at various places around the periphery of the pie. Inaddition, the crimping of the pie requires another and separateoperation.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine which willautomatically crimp and trim the edge of the pie at one operation.

The advantages of my machine not only lie in its automatic character,and the rapidity with which pies may be trimmed and crimped, but also inthe fact that by reason of its peculiarv operation, the crustsare'trimmed evenly without any bunching or thickening of the dough, asin hand trimming. Crusts may be rolled much thinner than would bepossible in the case of hand trimmed pies. These advantages will appearmore clearly as I proceed with my specification.

In the drawings :Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improvedmachine Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on an enlarged scale through the crimping and trimming tool ofthe machine, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectionon an enlarged scale through the operating screw and nut, on the line 44of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6is a top plan view of the pie plate support on an enlarged scale, andFig. 7 is a vertical section through the same, on the line 7-7.

guided in their operation.

which insures the release of the pie when the crimping and holdingdevice is removed from contact with it. These parts are arranged so thata single movement by the operator will bring them all into proper andco-operative action. The several parts are preferably made adjustable soas to accommodate pies of various sizes.

In the drawings, A is a standard by means of which the several parts aresupported and Said standard is provided. with a base A having lugs a forsecuring it to a table or bench a which is at proper elevation to suitthe convenience of the operator. The supporting frame for the pie-plateis represented at B and is secured in any convenient manner (see Fig. 7in an upwardly projecting socketed boss I) on the base A. Thissupporting frame has preferably four radially projecting arms B provided with slots B. Angular lugs C are adjustably secured in these slotsby means of fly-headed set-screws c and are adapted, upon properadjustment, to support the edges of pie-plates of various diameters. Thelugs C are preferably of greater height than the depth of a pie-plate,so that the pieplate is supported at its flange on the upper edges ofsaid lugs only. This permits the pie-plate to be dropped into place, andinsures its proper location without special care on the part of theoperator of the machine.

Dis a vertical shaft which supports and. operates the crimping deviceand also the rotary trimming blade. Said shaft is loosely journaled inarms A, A, projecting from the standard A.

E is the trimming blade arm, E, the trimming blade, and F 'the crimpingdevice, which bears down upon the edge of the pie to crimp it, and atthe same time holds the pie, and particularly the edge thereof, duringthe operation of the blade E. The shaft D is turned down at D (asclearly seen in Fig. 3), and has secured to it at this point the arm Eand a supplemental hub F to which the crimping device F is secured, aswill be described later. The arm E and the hub F are supplorted in placeby means of a nut x and was er 9c, and the arm E is secured to theportion D of the shaft D by means of a setscrew e. Ball bearings aremade on the adj acent surfaces of the supplemental hub F and the arm E,in which are placed the balls 6. The end of the arm E is rovided with aslot E in which is supported the bl ade-carryingblock 0, which isadjustably secured at various points in the slot by means of the flynute. blade E to be located at various distances from the center of theshaft D to accommodate pies of various sizes.

The crimping device F comprises a crimping ring f, radial arms f and ahub f all of the parts being preferably formed integral. The hub f is suported on the supplemental hub F and is a apted to be secured thereto bymeans of an annular groove g in the hub F and a spring-controlled pin gsecured to a casting attached to the radial arms f and projectingthrough the hub f into the groove g. The crimping device F has to bechanged in order to accommodate pies of different sizes, and itsattachment as just described permits of its ready removal andreplacement. The lower edge of the crimping ring is fluted and is adated to engage the edge of the pie and hold t e pie against rotationwhile at the same time crimping it. To insure the withdrawal of the criming device F without the crimping edges stic ing to the dough of thepie, I provide at several points around the peri hery of the crimpinring, vertically mova le pins H sup orted y flat springs h secured tothe radia arms of the crimper. These flatsprings normally tend to holdthe releasing pins H much below the lower surface of the crimping ring,so that when the crimping ring is brought into engagement with the edgeof the pie, the releasing ins come into engagement with the edge of t epie-plate itself, under pressure, with the result that when the crimpingring is withdrawn, the pressure of the releasing pins forces the pieaway from the crimping ring and thus prevents the latter from stickingto the dough of the pie.

The shaft D is provided with a threaded portion D, and upon thisthreaded portion is fitted a nut 65 having laterally projectingtrunnions d. The trunnions d have bearing in slots 01 in thebifurcations I of an arm I pivoted at c" to the standard A. The threadedportion D is of s'uficient extent to, cause, upon the raising orlowering of the nut.

This arrangement permits the permits of the vertical adjustment of theconnection between arm I and the rod J in order to accommodate tables orbenches of different heights.

The operation of my improved machine as thus far described is as follows:When the arm I, the trimming knife E, and the crimper F are up, asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which position they naturallyassume from the weight of the rod J and the treadlelever K, a pie in apie-plate is placed on the supporting device B with the edge of thepieplate supported by the angular lugs C. The operator then places hisfoot on the treadle K thereby raising the rod J, and with it the shortend of the arm I, which forces the other end of said arm downward. Thisdownward movement of the arm I carries with it the nut d, the shaft D,the bladecarrying arm E, and the crimping device F the movementcontinuing until the fluted edge of the crimper is brought into contactwith the edge of the pie. This movement continues until the resistanceof the dough overcomes the resistance of the friction of the thread Dtothe rotation of the. nut d, when the further movement of the arm I andwith it the nut d causes said shaft D to rotate. The rotation of theshaft D causes the knife carrying arm E to rotate, and the knife itselfto pass completely around the edge of the pie-plate, in engagementtherewith, so as to trim off the edge of the pie crust or crusts, whichproject, beyond the plate. This rotation is continued until the nut 61reaches a pin d located at the bottom of the thread. By engaging saidpin, the shaft D is forced down so as to insure thorough contact of thecrimping ring F with the edge of the pie, and aresultant definite anddeep crimp. The foot of the operator is then withdrawn from the treadle,whereupon the weight of the rod J and the pedal-leverK raise the nut (1up, thus rotating the shaft D back to its original position, until thenut strikes a pin d located at the upper end of the thread D, when thecrimper and trimming mechanism are lifted entirely clear of the pie, andback into the position indicated in dotted lines.

The blade E is made thin and 'springy, and its lower end curved orhooked as indicated in the drawings, so as to insure its always bearingagainst the rim of the pieplate, and also to insure its clearing thepieplate edge as it is brought into operative position. The releasingpins H as before described, push the pie from the crimper as the crimperis raised, thereby preventing the pie dough from sticking to thecrimper.

I do not wish to limit myself to the details of construction illustratedin the drawing and described in the specification, as it is apparentthat these may be varied without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

What I desire to claim as new and to cover by Letters Patent, is

1. A pie trimming machine comprising a supporting member adapted tosupport the pie-plate, a rotary and vertically shiftable shaft centrallylocated above said supporting member, a holding member loosely carriedat the lower end of said shaft adapted to engage the pie, an arm securedto said shaft, and a depending spring-blade secured to said arm adaptedto engage the edge of the pieplate when said shaft is shifted towardsaid supporting member, together with mechanism to produce co-operativemovement of the parts. I I

2. A pie trimming and crimping machine comprising a supporting memberadapted to support the pieplate, a rotary and vertically shiftable shaftcentrally located above said supporting member, a holding and crimpingmember loosely carried at the lower end of said shaft adapted to engagethe pie, an arm secured to said shaft, and a depending springbladesecured to said arm adapted to engage the edge of the pie-plate whensaid shaft is shifted toward said supporting member, together withmechanism to produce co-operative movement of the parts.

3. A pie trimming machine, comprising a supporting member adjustable indiameter, a removable holding member adapted to engage the edge of thepie, a rotary'trimming blade adjustably supported to accommodate pies ofvarious diameters said blade extending at substantially a right angle tothe plane of the pie and adapted to pass around the pie in engagementwith the edge of the pie plate and mechanism adapted to produce theco-operative movement of the said parts.

4. A pie trimming machine, comprising a supporting member, a holdingmember adapted to engage the edge of the pie, spring controlled movablepins carried by said holding member projecting in advance of it, arotary and endwise shiftable shaft to which said holding member isloosely secured, an arm secured to said shaft, a spring-blade attachedto said arm adapted to pass around the pie in engagement with the edgeof the pie-plate,and mechanism to produce the cooperative movement ofthe parts. i

5. A pie crimping and trimming machine comprising a supporting member, acrimping and holding member adapted to engage the edge of the pie,spring-controlled movable pins carried by saidcrimping and holdingmember projecting in advance of it, a rotary and endwise shiftable shaftto which said crimping and holding member is loosely secured, an armsecured to said shaft, a springblade attached to said arm adapted topass around the pie in engagement with the edge of the pie-plate, andmechanism to produce the co-operative movement of the parts.

6. A pie trimming and crimping machine,

comprising a supporting member adjustable in diameter, a removableholding and crimping member adapted to engage the edge of the pie, arotary trimming blade adjustably supported to accommodate pics ofvarious diameters, said blade being substantially at right angles to theplane of the pie and adapted to pass around the pie in engagement withthe edge of the pie plate and mechanism adapted to produce theco-operative movement of the said parts.

7. A pie trimming machine, comprising a standard, a supporting membersecured to said standard having lugs adjustably secured thereto adaptedto support the edge of the pie-plate, a vertically shiftable and rotaryshaft supported centrally above said supporting member, a holding member're- 'movably and loosely secured at the end of said shaft adapted toengage the edge of said pie, a blade carrying arm'secured to said shaft,and rotating therewith, a depending spring blade adjustably secured tosaid arm adapted to engage the edge of the pie-plate, and mechanism toproduce co-operative movement of the said parts.

8. A pie trimming and crimping machine, comprising a standard, asupporting member secured to said standard having lugs adjustablysecured thereto, adapted to support the edge of the pie-plate, avertically shiftable and rotary shaft supported centrally above saidsupporting member by said standard, a holding and crimping memberremovably and loosely secured at the end of said shaft adapted to engagethe edge of said pie, a blade carrying arm secured to said shaft androtating therewith, a depending spring blade adjustably secured to saidarm adapted to engage the edge of the pie-plate, and mechanism toproduce the co-operative movement of the said parts.

9. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, in combination with asupporting member, a crimping member havinga ring of the diameter of thepie, the face of said ring above the pie being fluted and adapted toengage the edge of the pie, a spring-blade at right angles to the planeof the pie, adapted to pass around the pie in engagement with the edgeof the pie plate, together with mechanism to produce co-operative actionof said parts.

10. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, in combination with asupportingmember, a rotary, endwise shiftable shaft supported, centrallyabove said supportingmember, a crimpinganember loosely secured to theend of the said shaft above said supporting member, an arm rigidlysecured to said shaft above said crimping member, and a spring-bladesecured to said arm and adapted to be operated by said shaft.

11. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, in combination with asupporting member, a rotary, endwise shiftable shaft supported centrallyabove said supporting member, a crimping member loosely and removablysecured to the end of said shaft above said supporting member, an armrigidly secured to said shaft above said crimping member, a spring-bladeadjustably secured to said arm, and mechanism adapted to produceco-operative movement of the parts.

12. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, in combination with asupporting member, a rotary, endwise shiftable shaft supported centrallyabove said supporting member, a removable crimping member looselysecured at the end of said shaft, movable spring-controlled pins carriedby said crimping-member projecting in advance of the same, and atrimming-blade operated by said shaft and adjustable in its distancefrom the center thereof, together with'mech- 'anism to produceco-operative movement of the parts.

13. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, a supporting-member arotary, endwise shiftable shaft supported centrally above saidsupporting-member, a crimpingmember loosely secured at the end of saidshaft, a trimming-blade adapted to be ro tated and brought in positionby said shaft, an arm, an operating pedal, a link connecting said armand operating pedal adjustable in length, and mechanism intermediatesaid arm and said shaft adapted to rotate and depress said shaft uponthe operation of said pedal.

14. In a pie trimming machine, in combination with a supporting-member,an endwise shiftable and rotary shaft located centrally above saidsupportin member, a holding and crimping-member oosely secured to theend of said shaft, a blade-carrying-arm rigidly secured to said shaftabove said crimping member, and a spring-blade hooked or curved outwardat its lower end, together with means for producing co-operativemovement of the parts.

15. In a pie trimming and crimping machine, in combination, asupporting-member having radial slotted arms and angular lugs adjustablysecured in said slots, a rotary, endwise shiftable shaft centrallylocated above said supporting-member, and a removable holding andcrimping-member loosely secured at the end of said shaft,spring-controlled movable pins carried by said holding and crimpingmember projecting in advance thereof, a slotted arm rigidly secured tosaid shaft above said holding and crimping member, a spring-blade curvedor hooked outward at its lower end adjustably secured in the slot ofsaid arm, and mechanism adapted to depress and rotate said shaft.

CLEMENS OSKAMP.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE E. MEHLHOPE, JosEPr R. RoI-IRER.

